Happiness is not so much in having as sharing !

“Why do you have to eat dates during your break fasting ya?” Su Ann asked me.To be honest , I was happy for the fact that Su Ann was curious about why we Muslims eat dates during Ramadhan. I started to explain the significance behind the eating of dates in the month of Ramadhan and then blurted out the word ‘Sunnah’ which I was quite surprised that Su Ann had no idea about this word. Alhamdulillah. I managed to answer quite a number of questions from this lady which is a close colleague of mine at the office. In fact, started to realize that I had the opportunity to explain so many things related to that particular question; given the fact the fact I can elaborate more and more and shared something about our beloved prophet. Subhanallah. Yes, even to that extent !

For me, Su Ann is a very devout christian who practices her religion. However, her interest in asking questions about Islam sometimes went beyond my expectations. Sometimes, in the midst of our conversation, she would ask me questions pertaining to Islam and also Muslims. It’s good and I really benefited a lot from this friendship. She used to ask me about marriage in Islam, Muslim name and several other things. In fact, I’ve also learnt more about Christianity from her. Alhamdullliah, working here is truly a blessings where I believe I can SHARE so many things about my faith.

Yes, the word of the day is SHARING. A very typical saying goes on to say that “Sharing is caring” or maybe some would rather say “Sharing is loving”. Yes, those sayings are very much typical but the reality behind it is much more significant and in fact very untypical ! As we all know, we live in this world with the spirit of sharing. We share the same air to breath, we look at the same sky and see the same bright sunny sunlight, we share the same bonding in the name of humanity and so on. All these and many more show how much pivotal sharing is in our lives. In fact, for Muslims all over the world, in this month of Ramadhan, we often hear them saying Ramadhan is the month where they share the feeling of those who had always in the state of inadequate ,insufficient, and had less than enough in their daily lives. That’s why they fast so that a shared feeling of inadequacy may be felt at least for one month.

For me, the month of Ramadhan is much more than that. It is not only the time we try to create a shared sense of feeling with the rest of our brothers and sisters in humanity, rather it is also a time where we share the message of Islam itself. Imagine the so many things that we can share during this blessed month. What is fasting? What is Ramadhan itself ? What is Sahur? Tarawih? Why dates and not strawberry =) and the list goes on !

Look at the list and we know that there are abundant of things we can share in this month of Ramadhan. Not only food for the physical body, but also food for the thoughts and souls !

In fact, I really urge all of you (me especially) to invite our non Muslim colleagues or friends to have Iftar with us. Forget about how special or not special the food is, the most important thing is the underlying significant and intention behind it. Definitely not about converting, rather it’s all about sharing. Alhamdulliah, I’ve started last year with Mr. Yee (I hope you still remember my post entitled “A simple Iftar, Tarawikh prayer, and a person called Mr. Yee )and this year I’m planning to have a couple of two Iftar with my non Muslim colleagues InsyaAllah. In fact, I even planned to have one with my students . May Allah make it easy InsyaAllah. Anyway, Happy Sharing !

Allahu A’lam.

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

- Norman MacEwan

P/S: Any idea where should I bring my students =)